Performance measures of a built environment multidisciplinary research journal: IJBES metrics in a review

An assessment of IJBES's performance since 2015 was presented in this communication using metrics data from Clarivate and the OJS Report Generator. Raw data were analyzed for the purpose of reporting to readers on the journal's performance using performance metrics available to the editor. Key performance metrics such as submissions, acceptance and rejection rates, and citation trends over time were reported and presented to the reader. It has been observed that ensuring balanced content and continuously working on a niche are among the priorities of the journal. It is also necessary to attract relevant and quality manuscripts among the authors to increase citations in other publications. Despite everything, the journal, which is relatively young, was able to withstand the initial test of time and improve its visibility in the scientific community

Associations Between Building Information Modelling (BIM) Data and Big Data Attributes

There is a considerable effort to create and leverage digital data as the construction industry today relatively adopts innovative work processes. Among the innovative work processes getting traction these days, Building Information Modelling or BIM sits at the backbone of the industry's digital strategy with the capability to create a huge volume of digital data. Unveiling, the huge volume of digital data created by BIM processes could pave the way to leap the industry further. Big data is useful in this regard as a platform to derive potential insights from the accumulation of BIM digital data. Despite, a review carried out to understand the connection between BIM data and big data attributes suggests that the linkage between these domains is scantily mapped. Hence, a systematic mapping of these two domains is needed as a precursor for future research to establish the relationship between BIM data creation and big data progression. Using a systematic mapping approach, this paper aims to present an outcome from the analysis carried out to map both BIM data and big data attributes. The mapping analysis evidently suggests a noticeable connection among the two domains, mostly in operation and maintenance while the least is in the specification

Key dimensions of effort for building information modelling data creation

While major industries begun to embrace technologies to improve revenue and productivity, construction industry appeared to be lagging in many aspects of technology adoption. Despite the industry’s straggle, there are several innovative work processes getting traction these days where Building Information Modelling (BIM) sits at the backbone of sector’s digital strategy with the potentiality to produce voluminous data. Fortunately, the expected accumulation of huge BIM data can bring potential insights in various digital platform through proper exertion of effort especially through big data. Though the associations between BIM data and big data has been theoretically established, the effort exertion in the creation of BIM data is still in the oblivious state. Therefore, a study to relate the dimensions of effort and various BIM data is needed as a precursor for future research. The outcomes evidently depict a recognizable linkage among them in which intensity is the least related dimension while most of the BIM data related with demand

Exploring gamification approach in hazard identification training for Malaysian construction industry

In recent years gaming products have increasingly been used to enhance learning and training development in academic and commercial sectors. Games have become more pervasive; they have been adopted for use in many industries and sectors such as defense, medicine, architecture, education, and city planning and government as tools for workers development. In Malaysia, it has been reported that the construction industry holds the third highest record of occurrences of accidents at work. Therefore, safety training is inevitable to reduce the alarming rate of accidents on construction sites. However, currently, available safety training approaches are still lacking in terms of delivering hands-on training and are more theoretical- instead of being more practical-based. This is due to the nature of the construction environment itself in which safety training involving certain hazards that cannot be implemented hands-on as it may bring harm to trainers, trainees and the environment. Gaming is an approach that applies technology to provide an almost real experience with interactive field training, and also supporting the theory of learning by doing with real case scenario. The purpose of this paper is to seek and explore the differences in existing gamification genres such as simulation game, role-playing, action game, strategy game and etc. Data were collected through available literature. The findings of the study show that serious game is a suitable genre to be adopted as an approach in hazard identification training for the construction industry in Malaysia

A contextual parsing of big data values to quantity surveyors

Big data is the new generation of technology designed for organizations to economically extract value from large volumes of a wide variety of data through high velocity capture, discovery, storage and analysis. Manifest as the frontier of 21st century technology, big data instigate superior business return. This lure businesses to zealously capitalize big data. In correspond, professionals too are charting their way to improve customer value with big data. Leading research in this area accede maximization on big data; revolutionized the norm of medical and accounting profession. Despite the substantial value, big data uptake from the quantity surveying profession recognized subtle. Contrarily, construction stakeholders swiftly embrace modern technology in their construction value chain. This invoke a change in data landscape thus, present an urgent call for professionals, especially quantity surveyors to recognize the change, embrace and reap the big data benefit. This paper aims to expand big data knowledge from the context of quantity surveying profession as an approach to soothe the big data and quantity surveying gap. This paper identifies generic big data value from professional perspective and explore big data value from the quantity surveying context. Aligning to the blurry big data paradigm in the quantity surveying context, this research adopts quantitative research with desk study on 28 papers and framework analysis through 15 semi-structured interviews with big data industry expert with quantity surveying background. This research found that big data values are consistent across profession albeit the difference on how big data is maximized. Other than that, the paucity of quantity surveying big data pursuance seen as repercussion of infancy big data state in the construction industry. However, this research insinuate quantity surveying profession are in strategic position to move forward with big data

Latent factors manifesting sustainable construction understanding

There is a strong premonition that a future successful sustainable construction implementation pivots partly upon a manifestation of sustainable construction understanding among the professionals in the industry. This research stands to advocate that a distinct manifestation of sustainable construction concept by AEC professionals reflects the knowledge kept, which mirrors the understanding thus provides a plausible starting point for future successful implementation of sustainable construction practices. Using Nigeria AEC industry’s current effort in sustainable construction as the backdrop, this research aimed to determine latent factors that characterise sustainable construction understanding among professionals in the AEC industry. Research data was gathered via a survey carried out on 580 construction professionals. Data were analysed by way of EFA and CFA (using PLS-SEM). Findings from the structural model developed showed seven latent factors which includes awareness, political, passive culture, knowledge, demand, financial and attitude. The latent factors derived from this research provide a context-specific understanding of sustainable construction concept by AEC professionals in its indigenous setting as a basis for future implementation of sustainable construction practices

Perspectives on issues and the application of the innovative procurement approaches for the Industrialised Building System (IBS)

Malaysia is making an aggressive effort of transformation to become a fully developed country. As one of the pillars for transformation, the construction industry has been undergoing a major reform with regard to the traditional method of construction. In recent years, the Industrialised Building System (IBS) has been promoted extensively with the government taking a lead with the practice. Studies showed that IBS has been able to expedite construction process, improve the time taken to accomplish a project, improve building quality, able to control cost and human resources, which in overall, raise occupational health and safety standard of construction. Despite, as most IBS projects were carried out under the traditional procurement method, the full benefits of IBS are somehow obscured. Several issues such as work delay, lack of communication and integration, lack of knowledge and increase in cost, which are synonymous to the traditional procurement method appear to outweigh the benefit of IBS. Hence, this research aims to suggest an alternative to the traditional procurement method with regard to IBS project implementation. The focus of this research has been on the challenges and innovative procurement methods most suited for IBS project. Two objectives were outlined: (1) to identify issues faced by client on current procurement method in IBS project; and (2) to identify the client’s perspective on innovative procurement method most suited for IBS project. Data for this research was collected through semi-structured interviews with five respondents from five major developers having experience in IBS project implementation. The results from the thematic analysis revealed that apart from the common issues which ascend from the sequential nature of the traditional procurement method, design integration issue was opined to aggravate the situation. Unanimously, respondents agreed that partnering is the way forward for IBS project implementation in Malaysian construction industry. This research contributes by providing important pointers for the local construction industry to move forward with IBS project implementation

Framework development of bills of quantities accuracy in construction organisation

The Bill of Quantities (BQ) is a document that itemises information collected from the process of measurement and provides the descriptions, quantities and information of items required in a contract. These information are mainly used by contracting organisations in fulfilling their contractual duties. However, previous studies have revealed some concerns on the information contents of the BQ that have impacted its usability by contractors. Attempts to improve the BQ seem to concentrate on the BQ formats that do not parallel the improvements required for the BQ. This research aims to develop a conceptual framework that indicates important information requirements and significant issues as the basis to improve the uses of the BQ. The research outlines five objectives which include determining the uses of the BQ to the contracting organisations, determining the important BQ information requirements, determining significant issues impeding the uses of the BQ, developing and validating a conceptual framework as the basis to improve the uses of the BQ. Through survey, questionnaires were distributed to 500 active G7 contractors in Kuala Lumpur where 22.4% responded. Data was tested and analysed by means of Communality, Cronbach's Alpha, Relative Importance Index and the Analysis of Importance. The research determines 30 uses of the BQ, and shows that quantities is the most important information required in the overall uses of the BQ while inaccurate/wrong quantities, insufficient information on quantities, and inaccurate descriptions are the most significant issues impeding the uses of the BQ. The information requirements and issues that were considered important from the analyses are the main inputs to the framework. These are organised into two levels of importance, with inputs featured in the first level have higher weightage in improving the respective uses of the BQ as compared to the inputs featured in the second level of the framework. The framework asserts that improving the respective uses of the BQ can be planned in two stages based on the respective levels of importance. Validation for the framework was carried out through interviews with 10 personnel with at least 15 years of construction related experience. The results show an acceptable congruity where no changes are required, affirming the validity of the framework. The framework provides a usable basis in strategising improvements on the uses of the BQ to the contracting organisations

Documenting its Applications in Quantity Surveying Research: A Review

Literature review is an indispensable segment in scholarly undertaking. Although important, it appears that little has been documented about its process especially from the perspective of research in quantity surveying. This despite such effort could possibly benefit novices attempting to explore the vast territory of quantity surveying intellectual domain. Hence, drawing from the author’s recent research in identifying the issues that have impeded the use of the bills of quantities (BQ), this paper aims to document the steps involved in the process of reviewing literatures concerning the research. Accordingly, a nuts-and-bolts approach to literature review has been put forward in the background and it strives to describe the steps following the review processes carried out in the research underpinning this paper. This paper reflects that the process for reviewing the literature could be viewed as iterative-cyclical. In this regard, searching; mapping; analysing and synthesising have been recognised as the important steps in the process. The paper also demonstrates that the use of NVivo assisted greatly in the process and adds significant value through its pragmatic features and useful displays. The paper discussed these processes in relation to research in quantity surveying which is significant to the domain or a part thereof

Recapitulating the issues Concerning the Applications of the Bills of Quantities

A preliminary review of the literature had indicated a growing concern over various issues concerning the application of the Bills of Quantities (BQ). Though eminent, these issues, however, have sparsely been highlighted on a fragmentary basis, thus requires a systematic restructuring to manifest its underlying meaning. Following this review, a study has been conducted with an aim to recapitulate and subsequently suggest some of the most compelling issues concerning the application of the BQ. In this regard, it has objectively strived to identify relevant issues from the literature and ensue by critically synthesizing the outcome in response to the aim. Correspondingly, with support from tables and models developed to represent the concepts, the study has proposed three main categories of issues from the restructuring process. These are: (1) issues related to information, (2) issues related to format and (3) issues related to the method of working. Issues related to information have been suggested from the process as the issue considered most compelling thus warranting further consideration by the industry. The significance of this study is on the methodological way of restructuring and refocusing the issues related to the BQ. The finding has the potential prospect for future research and act as a basis from which the industry’s awareness can be bolstered